methionine
/mɛˈθaɪəˌniːn/noun
methionine is spelled M-E-T-H-I-O-N-I-N-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, methionine means “A sulphur-containing amino acid, C₅H₁₁NO₂S, in L- and D-forms” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of methionine is methionines.
How many letters and syllables are in methionine?
| Letters | 10: M-E-T-H-I-O-N-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,129th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is methionine?
Methionine appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,129th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce methionine?
- UK /mɪˈθʌɪəniːn/
- UK /mɪˈθʌɪənɪn/
- US /mɛˈθaɪəˌniːn/
Methionine has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-methionine.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-methionine2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of methionine
- methionines plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does methionine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sulphur-containing amino acid, C₅H₁₁NO₂S, in L- and D-forms.
- 2
The L-form thereof, a lipotropic molecule widely occurring in living organisms and found in most protein; in humans it is an essential amino acid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate methionine?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of methionine: MET.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Methionine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense amino acid:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | méthionine |
| German | Methionin |
| Portuguese | metionina |
| Spanish | metionina |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does methionine come from?
From methyl + thio- + -n- + -ine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).